Montgomery County animal shelter to get permanent director, new vets

Commissioners grill interim director over spay/neuter program, budget

This yorky mix checks out a visitor from his cage at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter, near The Woodlands.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015, in Houston.

This yorky mix checks out a visitor from his cage at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter, near The Woodlands.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015, in Houston.

Photo: Dylan Aguilar, Houston Chronicle

Photo: Dylan Aguilar, Houston Chronicle

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This yorky mix checks out a visitor from his cage at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter, near The Woodlands.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015, in Houston.

This yorky mix checks out a visitor from his cage at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter, near The Woodlands.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015, in Houston.

Photo: Dylan Aguilar, Houston Chronicle

Montgomery County animal shelter to get permanent director, new vets

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Montgomery County commissioners are gearing up to make major changes at the animal shelter amid ongoing complaints about animal care.

A week after commissioners decided to hold a third of the shelter's $3.2 million budget in a contingency account, they announced Tuesday a schedule for personnel changes and once again grilled its interim director about costs.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Clark, who oversees the shelter's management and said it handles 21,000 animals in a year, said a national search is underway for a permanent director to take over as early as November. He also said two new staff veterinarians would start by Oct. 1.

County Judge Craig Doyal said he wants commissioners to interview the new director before the hiring is finalized.

Doyal and Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley questioned Clark and interim shelter director Todd Hayden about the $150,000 or so Hayden had requested be carried over into the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Hayden acknowledged that the shelter has a significant backlog for its spay/neuter program and that some animals leave the shelter unaltered; he said the carryover funds, which commissioners approved, could help end that backlog by November.

The interim director plans to use some county funds for vouchers so that citizens can get their animals altered by private veterinarians, something County Auditor Phyllis Martin said was unprecedented. However, Hayden and Clark said the vouchers would be more cost-effictive than paying for more days of surgeries at the shelter.

During a public comment, a disgruntled volunteer took a knee before the commissioners to plead for changes in leadership, noting that a male and female animal had been kept in the same cage.

That was a mistake driven by the shelter's crowded conditions, Clark said in an interview, adding that Hayden is generally doing a good job with animal care.

"We're in so much better shape than we've ever been," Clark said, adding that complaints were coming from a "very small but very vocal group."

The county has been running the shelter since November, when it took control of the facility after complaints about a private corporation that had been operating it since 2013.

Clark said Hayden, a private veterinarian, "stepped up in an hour of crisis" to served as interim director and preserve the shelter's veterinary license after a series of leaders departed.

"Maybe his people skills are lacking in some ways," Clark said, but "he's sticking it out until a new (director) takes his place."